Linda - January 2, 2022 - One day, at least 25 years ago, when Marcel and I were living in Rockland, we drove into Ottawa to meet with our respective spiritual directors who were at the time residing in two different parishes.  Since they were priests, both of us also went to confession.  As we were driving back home, discussing our sessions, we discovered that we had been given exactly the same penance; Psalm 131!  What could be the odds of that happening? We were quite in awe as we reflected on the mysterious ways of God!

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Well, we immediately concluded that the Lord was speaking a definite word to us, one that we've tried to embrace since then. It somehow felt like a kind of call, a kind of lifestyle that the Lord was putting before us. Since that fateful day, we try to remind ourselves every day that we are totally cared for by the Lord and that everything that happens to us has either been willed or allowed by a gentle and loving Father who truly manifests a maternal care over us. We try to be as little children who have an absolute trust in our Father's goodness and who believe that all shall be well indeed, regardless of how things look or what we feel.  But it's really not easy to be childlike - such as St. Thérèse was.  It really isn't, because it truly is a place of littleness and weakness and frankly, for most of us, it isn't a comfortable place.  But when we do strive to embrace the attitude described in the psalm above, there's a peace that usually comes...over time...and trust and peace grow.